Tile Testing

Recycled Glass Tile - Coming Right Up

The question that I get more often than any other is "can I mix bottle glass?" The answer is yes, with caveats. I wish I could claim credit for the technology, but the CWC.org folks figured all of this out for us sometime in the late '90's. You can read the white papers on their website.

The long and short of it is, it all depends on temperature and glass particle size. What you see here is one week's worth of testing of different glass colors, temperatures and particle sizes. I am working out the last few bugs on a line of recycled glass tiles. This is about a third of my test firings. It's hard to see the stacks and stacks on the right hand side of the photo.

Tile photo's coming up. Stay tuned.

Spring Art Party

Please come and hang out with us at the Firth Annual Art Party. This will be my fourth year at this event. It is a small intimate show hosted at the home of Russ and Laurie Lyman. They are cool people and unfailingly generous with their home and support. Here is a quick rundown of some of the people who will be there:

Russ Lyman, (aka Russlee), abstract painter extraordinaire, see new Russ stuff here.

Lisa Peterson will be bringing amazing glass and silver jewelry, here is a sample.

Ken McRaney will have bent willow furniture, as well as some new designs.

Dave Windham, talented photographer, whose work can be seen here

And, of course, yours truly. I promise to have all new works, plus some of the new tile I've been working on. (More about tile later).

And last but not least,

the address is 1925 East Hillcrest. Hillcrest is 2500 S.
if you get lost, call me at 865-7911 and I'll do my best GPS impression and guide you.

See you there!

New Work at Utah Artist Hands

Please drop by Utah Artist Hands sometime soon and view a whole pile of new glass work, including this beauty.

The lighting on this photo is odd; my white balance was out of whack. I find it strangely mesmerizing though. The piece itself is formed of nearly 100 strips of single strength recycled window glass fused together into a graceful vessel.

To add to the treat, Pam has an adorable new puppy that loves to give nips and kisses. If you are just starved for glass and puppy kisses, head on over. Utah Artist Hands is located at 61 West 100 South in Salt Lake City.

Technical Question, Compatibility & School Projects

Mali C. bring this question:

Hello Jodi:

I took a visit to your site after viewing you on HGTV That's Clever. Which by the way you did a nice job and I hope you were eventually able to view it if you haven't already.

I work with elementary school children doing art classes as a guest artist. Most of the material I use is recycled, or things I donate. I have done quite a few fused glass projects, but donating these supplies (purchased 90 COE fusing glass) is becoming quite costly for me. I am looking into using recycled found glass to use with my elementary kids. I was given a case of wine bottles from a winery, all different colors. I was hoping to use the different colored glass (combined) on one piece. Kinda like how you crushed the red glass onto the one example you showed on your site. My question #1 is: are all bottles the same COE, (like wine bottles)? Question #2: Is all regular, float window glass the same COE, or do you just use all the glass from one window in each piece and not mix from other windows? Question #3: Do you experience a lot of devit on your recycled glass pieces? I actually like the look of devit at times and have seen some nice jewelry made from recycled milk bottles that had devit and they were wonderful.

Hopefully I can work out using recycled glass so I can offer more glass fusing projects with my school kids.

Thank you in advance for any help you can give me on this subject. Please see below a photo of myself (in the black shirt) and some of the kids I work with. Also, thank you for the information you offer on your web-site.

Sincerely,
Mali C.


Hi Mali;

I still haven't worked up the energy to look at the HGTV spot. It's been over a year since it was filmed and the horror is starting to fade.

Here are the answers to your questions:

#1 is: are all bottles the same COE, (like wine bottles)?

In my experience, not only are all wine bottles NOT the same COE, often bottles of the same wine are not the same COE. I have had very consistent results with microbrew beer bottles (all the same brand) and Skyy Vodka bottles. They seem very consistent over multiple bottles. Everything else I fuse test chips before I mix them. There is a way around this, which is by grinding the glass to powder and then you effectively neutralize the COE problem completely. The down side is that grinding glass is a miserable messy job and the resulting powder requires the use of respirators. (if you want more info on this, let me know)

Question #2: Is all regular, float window glass the same COE, or do you just use all the glass from one window in each piece and not mix from other windows?

I typically do use only one sheet. Except, I have had pretty good luck using multiple windows from the same building. I check the color to make sure it is the same (often the color ranges from green to blue to clear depending on the recipe and vintage). If you are buying a case of float directly from the manufacturer, it is probably safe to assume that all the sheets are the same COE. Just don't assume that the NEXT case will be compatible with the first.

Question #3: Do you experience a lot of devit on your recycled glass pieces?

I typically get devit on older glass, that isn't float (it's rolled or plate) and on the inside of bottles. Hard water deposits will also cause heavy filming. Other people swear that the tin side of float glass will devit (or maybe it is the non-tin side?) I don't know, I just get it really clean and that usually takes care of the problem. I use white vinegar and water with microfiber cloths to clean with. I don't use any chemicals if I can help it.

The red piece on my site is made with a commercially available float glass powder, I've gotten it from two different manufacturers, Hot Line (through Sundance Art Glass Co in CA) and from CR Lu in Denver. It runs about $8-$12/8 oz and also requires a respirator. However, you could fuse it on the surface of float, then cut it up for the kids. That would neutralize the dust hazard. An 8 oz bottle will do several sq. feet. (I'm thinking 4+) Make sure you get a wholesale account if you can, that knocks a couple of dollars off. I water down Elmers glue, brush it on the surface of the float, sprinkle the powder, tap off the extra and fire. You can do a tack fuse and get really cool texture, or full fuse for a solid color layer on the surface.

Another answer to your problem may be to contact other glass artists and beg for their scrap. That would leave you with purchasing just the clear base, which might not be so bad.

I get scrap from stained glass artists and then tumble it in my rock tumbler. It leaves a beach glass finish with no sharp edges. I then use it at my daughter's preschool for art projects. It can't be fused because it is all different COE's, but we do a lot of mosaics and pieces that are glued together.
Another project that I wanted to try out with kids is to take play sand, mix it with water and elmers glue, put it into a plant saucer or plate and mold it. The glue should hold the sand solid as it dries, then, you could put an entire bottle over, or fill it with broken bottle glass and fuse it solid. I had pictured kids pressing things into the sand, like rocks and shells, but I haven't had time to follow through. If you decide you want to try it, let me know and I'll send you the firing schedule that I would use.

I would love to hear your results and ideas. I'm hoping to be able to take recycled glass into schools here as my daughter gets older. May I use your questions and photo's on my website? I'm building a new site that will hopefully launch Jan. 1 and it would be really fun to show you and the kids.

Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with. Viva recycling!

Jodi

Question 2:
Hello Jodi:

Nice to meet you and thank you for you detailed answers to my questions, which will help immensely. I like the Elemer's glue and play sand project idea you mentioned. That would be great to try with my little kindergarten kids. I will defiantly run some test pieces like you mentioned, maybe load some different tests in the kiln all at once and just make a log of the results. That is very interesting about the micro brew bottles, I wonder why that is? We have a micro brewery here and possibly they will be willing to donate some of their broken bottles. By the way, I live in State College, PA. I was able to go to a winery and get some bottles donated to me, lots of different colors, same type of bottles. They will be my first tests. Float glass is easy to come across, since I do mosaic window art. Many people give me windows for that.

I was showing my daughter "Alison" your web-site (she is 6 years old) and you mentioned using a rock tumbler for your glass. We got pretty excited about that because "Santa" just brought her a rock tumbler and glass is going to make it's way in there. Alison also does fused glass art and has sold some of her own creations at craft fairs. I was concerned about safety when I first started doing glass projects with the elementary school aged kids. But I went over some safety rules and paired up children who may be hyper with myself, the teacher or class helper it worked out well. So far, no injuries, hopefully it will stay that way. The kids and their parents really love the fused glass creations they make.

You are more than welcome to use my questions and photos for your site. I think most people think glass art is just for adults, but children age five and up really can create some beautiful work. I use scraps and pre-cut bases (I cut nothing at the schools) and I give them each two bases to glue their glass on (about 3"X 2" or 3"X 3") and maybe a small square piece to use as a pin or a pendent on a paper plate and I let them have at it. I bring scraps of small glass, frit and rough frit in Tupperware containers, one container for every four children. I allowed the kids to rotate their containers when they want some different glass to use. I have them write their names on their paper plates to keep track of who's is who's. I then photograph (digital camera) each plate before I put it in the kiln or make a diagram and to keep track of who's is who's. When they come out of the kiln I have baggies with the kids name written on with perm marker, wash them and they go right into the bag. I then finish them as needed. These school projects usually require about one hour of time for kids age 5 and up.

Thank you again for all the help and you are welcome to use anything you wish. Please let me know when you get your site updates up and running.

Thanks, Mali

Technical Question, Compatibility and Temperatures

This question was originally posed by Susan G.:

I enjoy your website. I am a beginner with fused glass. I was very excited to find someone who uses reclycled window glass and bottle glass ro work with.

Can you tell me:
1. the maximum temp to fire window glass and bottle glass
2. can window glass and bottle glass be fired together to make one piece?

thank you
Susan

Hi Susan;

The maximum temperature ranges from between 1375 for a slump to 1590 for a cast piece. The holding time varies as well, based on what you want to do. Different thickness and age of window glass all play a part. Different colored bottles melt differently as well. Generally I have found that newer windows melt more smoothly, and the darker the bottle glass, the lower the melting point.

I heard once that sky vodka bottles (the blue ones) and float glass are compatible. I tried them and have one piece that "worked". It didn't explode, but it did develop a crack about a year later. I've been meaning to try it again, but have been following other tangents. It also is possible to fuse the two together if you grind the glass into powder, the super tiny surface area generally eliminates the surface tension. There is a piece on my blog made with this technique, scroll down to August 28 to have a look.

Here is a good website to get you started: http://www.cwc.org/glass.htm

I also highly recommend the glass fusing books by Boyce Lundstrom. They contain really good firing schedules to start from.

Good luck, do let me know how things are working out for you and if I can help with anything else. You can actually watch me make two pieces with recycled window glass on HGTV's "That's Clever" show my segment is airing today.

Jodi

Technical Question, Compatibility & Bottles

This question was originally posed by Judy W.:

Hi Jodi,
Just saw your That's Clever segment which made me check out your website. I am very new (read 'clueless') to firing glass but have aspirations. I want to make tiles for my new kitchen with found bottle glass and have been saving bottles until the garage is well populated with blue, green and brown. I would like to vary the colors as you did in your blue and white bowl shown on your web site. I would appreciate knowing what you use for flux--is that what gives it some opacity?

Also I have a new barely used glass/ceramics kiln that I am trying to learn to fire correctly. Out here in rural MO there's not much help available so I am inquiring about an example firing schedule for crushed bottle glass -- if you are willing to share such info.

Any help your can provide will make my kitchen look the way I envision. I have purchased fiberboard and kiln wash to make molds for the tiles and a glass crusher from a guy in British Columbia but have yet to smash any until I figure a way to contain it sufficiently that my dogs won't have teeny shards in their toes.

Judy W.
cactusgrandma from AZ now in MO


Hi Judy;

It sounds like you are well on your way! My carport is jam-packed with bottles, so I can relate to the collecting frenzy. The dish that you liked on my website is both complicated and surprisingly simple at the same time.

I used a hand pasta maker (the chrome looking ones that are also used for polymer clay), adjusted it until the rollers were just narrower than the glass, shoved the glass in and cranked away. It made an awful mess, bits everywhere. I did have a nice pile of nearly powdered glass left over though. I sifted the glass through a wire strainer and then used a magnet to pull the metal bits out (pieces of pasta maker).

I mixed the blue bottle glass and the clear (now white) window glass with a flux made of borax and water. I used the laundry soap type of borax, I think the mix is a couple of tablespoons of borax to 2 cups water. It wet the glass powder so it kind of stuck together, a lot like wet sand. Then I spooned it into a mold and packed it down as well as I could. The small glass particle size is what gives the glass its opacity, it is also what allows the two different types of glass to work together. I have also done a green and white one.

I fired it using a typical firing schedule, you will probably need to experiment. It was something like this:

500degrees/hr to 1100 h 20 min
500 degrees/hr to 1550 h 8 min
9999 degrees/hr to 1100 h 30 min

then cool to room temperature.

For more really good info about recycled glass, you could check out this website: www.cwc.org
That is where I started years ago, they have good info.

I would love to see pictures of how your tiles turn out, do keep me posted! I started just like you, I bought a kiln, put in a bottle and pushed go. Then again and again. Take careful notes, you'll soon get to know your kiln and the nature of the bottle glass.

Jodi

**UPDATE**

I've switched from a pasta maker to a glass smasher to process bottles. I had my friend Kyle (http://www.alteredelements.com) weld a block of steel on the end of a pipe for me and then put a circle of steel in the bottom of a bucket and smash away.

Technical Question, Bottle Cutting

Flo S. posed this question:

Hi Jodi,

Saw your show on HGTV - great looking pieces. I love recycling but I am not into glass- EXCEPT I work with 4H and Scouts as well as some private schools. I just came into a windfall of colored bottles, mostly wine/alcohol I guess, after a friends Mother passed over. I want to cut the bottle into rings - then on my demo for the children on the Kiln I want to fire them - to smooth the edges - and they can then make into wind chimes. I am finding it hard to cut the bottles with the little kits, where you put in a cradle and run a cutter around the bottle, heat and drop in cold water etc etc. Any easier way to do this. I will never get enough done this way. Thanks, Flo

Hi Flo, I bought one of those little kits too. The cutter is not very good. I still use the cradle, but use my own glass cutter, which is much higher quality. I score the bottle, then use a propane torch to heat it and drop it in ice water. It takes a good bit of practice, and I'm not sure you want to show the kids the torch part. I can cut the tops and bottoms off of bottles at about 45/hr. The bad new is, I've never been able to make rings. I know the little book that comes with the cutter shows them, but I've just never been able to consistently do it.

The bottoms of the bottles melt nice and flat, in fact, I make sun catchers out of them. The downside to that is they have to be drilled and wired together. I've had requests from local schools about projects with recycled glass, I'm still testing some of my ideas, I'll keep you posted.

If you want to go ahead with the bottle cutting, you can get a professional grade cutter at any stained glass supply house, I use a Toyo. I think they run about $20. It will last you forever, I've been using mine for 7 years.

Good luck,

Jodi

Technical Question, Recycled Glass Compatibility

Sandy P. brings this question:

Hi Jodi,
I am in Tampa, Florida and heard about you from a friend who saw you on HGTV in Charlevoix, Michigan. I am new to fusing and love the idea of using "recucled" glass. I have a question for you. Do you mix the glass? It's always been instilled to me about using compatible glass? I've slumped a beer bottle for fun but haven't done any other experimenting. I'd really appreciate it if you would let me know. Thanks. I'll be watching for you ~
Sandy

Hi Sandy;

What you have learned is correct, EXCEPT when you reduce the size of the surface area to nearly non-existent proportions, i.e. crushed glass. Bedrock tile co. in Seattle has been doing it for about a long time, with no flux or additions.

I have one piece shown here on my blog that is mixed blue bottle glass and clear window. The piece is opaque and made with crushed glass scroll down to August 28 entry to have a look.

Let me know if you have additional questions,

Jodi